


Harry's Mark

by aslytherspuff



Series: The Wish Fulfillment Universe [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Possibly Unrequited Love, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Unrequited Love, referenced Harry/Ron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22242814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aslytherspuff/pseuds/aslytherspuff
Summary: ** Part of the Wish Fulfillment universe **Hermione's POV.MAY 1998Hermione curled herself up on a large armchair in front of the fire and began to read Harry's letter for the third time.  He'd received his Mark.  He thought he knew who it was.  He wanted to talk to her about it.She was sure that she knew exactly who his Mark was, and it put her in a difficult situation.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott
Series: The Wish Fulfillment Universe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587355
Comments: 14
Kudos: 191





	Harry's Mark

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't fit into the main work, as it's Hermione's POV, but I think it fills in a gap a lot of you were curious about.

**MAY 1998**

**THREE WEEKS AFTER THE BATTLE**

Hermione curled herself up on a large armchair in front of the fire and began to read Harry's letter for the third time.

He'd received his Mark. He thought he knew who it was. He wanted to talk to her about it. She was sure that she knew _exactly_ who his Mark was, and it put her in a difficult situation. As someone who wasn't family to either of them, she could not directly reveal any information about who their Mark could be; Magic would not allow her to do so. Soul Magic was both powerful and sacred, and it was far too risky to chance messing with. Professor McGonagall had taken great pains to warn her very clearly – unless you are family, you cannot interfere. But even if you were family, there were rules and restrictions so complex that even most Purebloods did not fully understand them. _'Soulmates are fated to find one another,'_ she'd said, _'when the time is right, they will know. We mustn't try to hurry fate along.'_

Hermione leaned her head back against the soft leather and took several deep breaths. It would be better to do this now, before she left for Australia, rather than leaving Harry to work himself into a panic over the next four weeks.

“Millie?” she called, softly, and a small, neatly-uniformed elf appeared.

“Millie is here for Missy Hermione,” she said, softly, her ears bobbing with each word. “Hows can Millie assists?”

All of the Nott house-elves had firmly rejected her suggestions of freedom and payment, and most were still refusing to speak to her for offending them so egregiously. But Millie had been one of the elves eager to accept the clean uniforms Theo had offered, and had happily volunteered to look after 'the new Missy Hermione'. It still rankled her that she lived in a house run by slave labour, but she was smart enough to keep those thoughts out of the elves' hearing for now.

“Good evening, Millie. I've received a letter from a friend and I need to speak to him quite urgently. If you're not too busy, could you fetch him for me?”

Millie's eyes grew wide and she nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes, Missy Hermione. Yous be trustings Millie with yours friends and Millie bes looksin' afters them!”

“Thank you, Millie. Could you please go to the Burrow and bring Harry Potter here?” It was considered rude by most of Wizarding society to send an elf to fetch someone, but Hermione knew Harry wouldn't mind. He, like her, had been brought up with all the rules and social constraints of Muggle society, not the Wizarding one, and would think nothing of being fetched and apparated by a house-elf. She'd probably get a sternly-worded letter from Mrs Weasley or a disapproving eyebrow-raise from Theo if they found out, though.

Barely two minutes later, a grinning Harry Potter landed in the living room beside her. “Thanks, Millie,” he said. Millie nearly fainted when he tried to shake her hand.

Millie hurriedly bowed and disapparated, cheeks still red, and Harry turned around slowly to take in the wood-panelled walls, tall bookshelves, and expensive leather furniture.

“So _this_ is Nott Manor?” he asked, turning to face her.

Hermione nodded. “This is my favourite room. I got your letter,” she continued without preamble. “Theo's out, and we're leaving for Australia soon, so I wanted to talk to you before we go.”

Harry paled slightly and unconsciously reached for his right arm. “I don't know what to do,” he whispered. “It just... appeared. After the war.” He slowly sank into the armchair beside hers, reaching out to grab her hand. She took it, gently running her fingers over his Quidditch-calloused palm as she watched him struggle with what to say next.

“It's one of the Weasleys.”

She started to nod in agreement, but then caught herself. There were limits on what an outsider could divulge when it came to this kind of magic. She saw Harry as her brother, but Magic might not see it that way. Instead she just smiled in what she hoped was a neutral but reassuring way.

“What makes you think so?”

Harry's teeth sank into his bottom lip in the way that always made Ron tense. Her boys were so oblivious that it hurt, but she couldn't get involved.  _We mustn't try to hurry fate along_ .

“When I first got it, it said 'Percy',” Harry said, quietly. “And it can't be Audrey, can it? You can only be Marked once? So then it has to be Ginny, right? She's the only other girl.”

The questioning tone in his voice made Hermione realise that Harry knew next to nothing about soulmates and Marks; no one had ever explained it to him the way McGonagall had explained it to her and, with the war, Harry had never had the opportunity to research it for himself.

“Yes, you can only be Marked once, but that doesn't mean you can only  _love_ once. Tonks and Remus loved each other, Harry, I'm sure you could see that, but they were not soulmates.”

Harry's eyes filled with tears at the mention of his almost-godfather, who he'd laid to rest just two weeks ago. “Yeah,” he choked out, “they did. But it wasn't the same as –” He cut himself off as a tear rolled down his cheek, and Hermione knew what he'd been about to say. It wasn't the same as Sirius.

“No,” she agreed, gently, “it wasn't the same. But it was still love.”

Harry nodded once, his jaw tense. Hermione reached over and gently brushed away his tears with her thumb. “Do you need a moment, Harry?”

“No,” he said, despite his voice breaking. “No, I'm fine.”

She didn't really believe him. Perhaps a slight change in subject would be beneficial. “You said you think it's Ginny?”

“Must be,” Harry said flatly with a little shrug of his shoulders. He'd been happily dating Ginny before the war, but he didn't look at all excited by the prospect of her being his soulmate. Hermione knew why, but she wasn't sure that Harry had worked it out just yet.

“Why?”

“She's the only girl left.”

Oh, good God, this was going to be more difficult than she'd thought.

“And you're sure your soulmate is a girl?” she asked, gently.

Harry's forehead furrowed deeply and he chewed unrelentingly on his lip. Was Harry really completely unaware of his feelings for Ron? Word from the Burrow was that they'd been sleeping in the same bed most nights, and that they'd not been out of each others' sight since Percy's funeral. Surely, they didn't think it was because they were just friends – if that were true, they'd be equally glued to  _ her _ side.

“I don't know,” he said, eventually, sounding almost surprised. “I just assumed it had to be. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Percy and Audrey, you and Theo...” He trailed off with an awkward shrug of his shoulders.

For such a perceptive man, he was entirely lacking in any kind of self-awareness. Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Me and Theo?” she questioned. They'd not told anyone that they were Marked for one another, and no one knew where she was staying aside from Harry and Ron.

Harry shrugged. “It's obvious. You kind of...” He pulled his hand from Hermione's to move his fingers around one another in a circle. “Revolve around each other. It's nice. I'm really happy for you, Hermione. He treats you like a queen. You deserve that.”

She couldn't fight the blush that spread to her cheeks. She hadn't realised that they were that obvious together, honestly. She'd worked out that her Mark was from a Dark family – and likely a Slytherin – during fifth year, and she'd been terrified. What had the fates been thinking, pairing someone from a Death Eater family with a Muggle-born witch? During sixth year, she'd found out that her Mark did not follow his family's beliefs, and she'd been even more terrified – but this time, it was for him. He was the one placed in danger by their pairing, not her. When Theo had stepped in front of a curse for her during the Battle, she'd known. Pain like nothing she'd ever felt before had coursed through her veins, and she'd been ready to kill the Death Eater herself. But Theo had held his ground, remained standing despite the  _ Cruciatus _ aimed at him, and exacted revenge himself.

She'd later found out that the man he'd killed had been his own father.

Harry's hand found hers once again, and she was pulled out of her thoughts to see him watching her closely, concern etched into his face.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. She  _ was _ okay, now. She had Theo, and he would take care of her. “I'm fine, Harry. You're right. Theo and I  _ are _ Matched, but please don't tell anyone just yet. We want to tell my parents first.”

He smiled. “I can do that. Dibs on being your Man of Honour at the wedding, though.”

She grinned back. “Who else would I have? But I want to be Best Woman at yours.” Not that there was any doubt of that if Harry's Mark was who she was sure it was. All she had to do was get the two idiots to work it out. How could she – “Harry. This is important.”

Harry's head snapped up. “What is?”

She met his eyes, willing him to understand what she was trying to say. “You said Theo and I revolve around each other, right? Always know where the other is. Gravitate towards each other. Understand one another.”

Harry nodded.

“Okay. I need you to think about that. Who do  _ you _ revolve around? Who do  _ you _ gravitate towards and understand without needing to speak?”  _ Come on, Harry. Please, please, please work it out. _

Harry shrugged, looking confused. “Just you and Ron.”

_ So close, Harry. Come on. _

“But it can't be you, cause you have Theo. And it can't be Ron, either.”

Hermione froze, staring blankly at her best friend. At the man who was practically her brother. How the hell had he come to that conclusion?

“Oh?” she asked, painfully aware of the thin line she was walking.

“Ron's had his Mark years, apparently. I overheard Bill saying something about it. And since he got it so young, that means his soulmate must be someone much older. That's what you told me back in fifth year. People get them late if their soulmate is younger, or early if their soulmate is older.” Harry's tone was soft, resigned. The same tone he'd used when he'd first said he thought Ginny was his soulmate. Hermione felt her heart break for her best friend.

“That is usually true,” she said, carefully. “But the Mark appears when your soulmate first truly wants something. That can happen at any age. It  _ usually _ happens when your soulmate is in their late teens, but that doesn't mean it  _ always _ happens at that age.”

Harry shrugged. “Mine only appeared after the war, though. If it was Ron – ” Harry turned to stare at the fire, but Hermione had heard the way his voice caught and could see him blinking back the tears that were pooling in his eyes. Hadn't he been through enough? What had Harry done to deserve this, as well? He'd suffered as a child. He'd spent years fighting a Dark Lord. He'd  _ died _ , for God's sake! And now this? Couldn't he just have happiness?

Harry seemed to gather himself, and he turned back to her with a steely determination in his eyes. “If it was Ron, I'd have had my Mark years ago. I'm not so stupid as to believe that something is true just because I want it to be so, not any more.” He gave her a tight smile. “Perhaps my Mark is just wrong. I had a piece of Voldemort's soul in me for sixteen years. It probably caused all kinds of damage.” His voice was even, measured, but his jaw was tense and he was running his fingers over the sleeve on his right arm.

Hermione didn't know what to say, so she reached over and pulled him into a hug. She ran her fingers through his hair and rubbed his back even as she felt hot tears soaking through her t-shirt. “You have a soulmate,” she whispered. “Your Mark is not wrong. One day, you will be happy. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any other requests for one-shots, please comment below!


End file.
